Hours. If my memory serves me correct weve got another boat yet to vote on and votes in a bit . The second most used called i just voted on. Great. I havent. So since i already know what he said since since of righty i may leave. [laughing] you read every word. If you can pull that off that would be great. [inaudible] you did say that . Okay. The commerce v. A. Hearing to order. Good afternoon. I want to thank you all for being a today, and special thank you to the secretary of the v. A. , thanks for being here, Secretary Mcdonough. Nearly nine months ago the v. A. Rolled out its new electronic Health Record. At the time v. A. Officials describe the rollout as flawless. Former secretary said it was revolutionary. Boasted that we just pulled off the most expensive i. T. Program in government history. He said we only heard crickets because critics from the critics because it had gone so well. Well guess what. Since a lot of the statements were made were hearing from v. A. Medical staff o
As many of you are aware, it has been over a decade since Congress Passed the Higher Education act which covers Student Loans, pell grants, and things like that. In the time that has transpired, a lot of things have changed in Higher Education and reform is overdue. We are looking forward to hearing from the senator on his vision for this act and for Higher Education Going Forward more generally. I want you to know this event is being livestreamed and a video will be available after we finish. Let me just ask you to silence your cell phones as i introduce the senator, which i am least to do. Lamar alexander is a seven generation tennessean born and raised, and he was elected twice as governor of tennessee before serving in the senate. I remember these days, as someone who has worked for a governor and follows governors, i think that is one of the most exciting jobs in Public Policy. He developed a reputation early on and was wellknown as an advocate for and proponent of federalism in a
It is just under an hour. Madam speaker, im relieved and grateful that the longest Government Shutdown in our nations history has ended. Im sure that many people share these same feelings, including my colleagues. The American People and especially the 00,000 federal employees who were furloughed or forced to work without pay for 35 days have to be relieved. I hope that the one positive thing to come out of this experience is universal recognition that the Government Shutdowns are almost always pointless exercises that are harmful to our country and our constituents and the federal government should be open for business. And not closed. That is why i strongly support House Resolution 79, the measure before us today. Even though the recent shutdown affected only part of the federal government, its impact was deeply felt throughout the country. The department of Homeland Security, state treasury, commerce, justice, agriculture and the e. P. A. And nasa were shuttered. Operations at these
We need to fund Border Security, and the three components, some people have emphasized technology, some people have emphasized people, and some people emphasized the border barrier. We all talked about putting those components together to get a better solution. Reporter he wants the wall. Is there any viability for that with the people in that room . Sen. Hoeven he wants a barrier that works. What we talked about in the meeting, and he think others will tell you the same thing, is, lets listen to the professionals. The career people in terms of that package. People, technology, barrier. Are they need it, how they needed. They are the ones on the line every day. Reporter do you think the president should back out of the negotiations . Sen. Hoeven at the end of the day, we need something the house will pass, the senate will pass, and the president will sign. So we all have to be talking to each other to get to a good solution that we can pass. So he and his to be a part of it. Reporter i
Shutdown over border wall funding . If you would, give us a call. 2027488000 is the number. If you would not, 2027488001. You can catch up with us on social media. On twitter it is cspanwj. On facebook it is facebook. Com cspan. A very good thursday morning to you. You can start calling in now. Yesterday the bipartisan, Bicameral Group whose job it is met for the first time called a Conference Committee and they will be meeting through february 15. The president was tweeting ughts about the upcoming physicalting a wall or barrier, they are wasting their time. Here is the headline from the New York Times this morning on the results of that first meeting. It democrats fact much into their first democrats packed much into their first offer, but not what the president wants. The appropriations chairwoman in the house, her thoughts on the upcoming negotiations. [video clip] to further secure the border, we should focus on Proven Solutions like equipment at ports of entry to detect drugs and